By next year, some predict that half of all internet searches will be initiated through voice instead of thumbs and fingertips. In another two years, it’s estimated the majority of Americans will have at least one voice-enabled smart speaker in the home. Nearly half (47%) of all voice-tech startups are focused on healthcare. (Finance is a distant second, at less than 15%.)
If 2018 was the Year of Voice Tech, Healthcare IT News predicts 2019 will be the year when many of those startups and pilots fail. They say we’re in the trial-and-error phase. Regardless, voice tech in healthcare is here to stay. The potential impact is too great.
If you think about the nature of healthcare, the emphasis on voice technologies isn’t surprising. We’re used to talking with doctors, nurses, care-givers …and, of course, pharmacists. Clinicians are constantly talking with each other. The interaction is inherently verbal, unlike buying a pair of sunglasses or selling shares of stock.
A few areas voice-powered apps are naturally gaining traction:
• Diagnosis and Monitoring – Using artificial intelligence and deep learning, voice tech can pick up on a patient’s “vocal biomarkers” to help care teams diagnose and monitor a variety of conditions and assess physical and mental health.
• Emergencies – Someone in the house breaks a wrist or gets a bad cut. How long are the wait times at the nearest ER’s? Ask Alexa.
• Patient-Provider Communication
– Appointment scheduling, reminders and care coordination are being automated in both outpatient and inpatient settings.
• Patient Engagement
– Voice interfaces can help chronic-disease patients stay engaged in and manage their own care between provider visits.
• Elder Care – For elderly being cared for in a facility or at home, voice tech apps are reminding them to take medications, get blood pressure or blood sugar checks, exercise, and perform other daily health tasks. Patients can also use them to call for help.
The potential for voice tech in healthcare is too vast to do justice in this space. Suffice it to say we believe it’s a perfect fit for pharmacy. More than half of all Americans take at least one medication on a regular basis. It’s the most frequent interaction and transaction in healthcare.
Soon, Alexa, Siri, Google and Microsoft’s Cortana will be helping our members find the lowest-cost options for their prescriptions. Integrating voice tech into our solution will enable a whole lot more. We developed and demoed our voice-integration at the inaugural HLTH conference last spring. We plan to roll out the full functionality later this year.
Voice tech promises to change the way health care is delivered and experienced. Rest assured, Rx Savings Solutions will be part of the conversation.
